[Beethoven / Piano Concertos nos. 1, 3, 5]: Michelangeli is in winning form, magisterial, dynamic, probing and articulate, as is the orchestra . . . [Brahms Symphonies]: Listening to the First renewed my enthusiasm for the work . . . This is played not as a "Beethoven Tenth" but a Brahms First. It is quite formal and beautifully laid out, with no deliberate emphasis on this phrase or that or by retarding or accelerating to make a point. This performance vividly recalled my unexpected euphoria at first hearing the work so many years ago. His performance of the Requiem is right on the money, with a strong pulse drawing together the seven sections . . . His balancing of choir, soloists and orchestra is exemplary . . . [a] very impressive recording . . . Without exception, all the interpretations and performances in this collection are of enduring stature, offered in the finest sound that makes the repertoire doubly satisfying . . .

I have been delighted by DG's collection of his Viennese recordings, very much his middle period, and consequently more introspective and wise but still with his feel for structure and momentum . . . Beethoven (three piano concertos exquisitely played by Michelangeli), Brahms, (a wise, autumnal symphony cycle, a taut, implacably paced "German Requiem") . . . and arguably the classiest "Rigoletto" on record. Finally . . . is one of Giulini's rare forays into contemporary music: Gottfried von Einem's "An die Nachgeborenen" . . . With classy support from Fischer-Dieskau and Julia Hamari, Giulini treats the work with the same fervor and dignity he brings to Brahms and Beethoven.

. . . [a] rewarding set of live and studio recordings. Giulini conducts varied works, including symphonies by Bruckner and Brahms. Of special note are the superb accounts of three Beethoven piano concertos with the masterly Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli.

Record Review /
Anthony Tommasini,
The New York Times / 01. December 2014